A compact, reliable, and substantially continuously tunable analog memory device is desired for many intriguing applications such as neuromorphic computing. Indeed, one of the reasons why a self-adaptive, large-scale neuromorphic system has yet to be successfully demonstrated is because of the lack of such analog memory devices to implement plastic synapses. Digital static random-access memory (SRAM) can be used to implement a synapse but occupies a large area. Analog candidates such as memristors, phase-change memory, and other exotic materials have been proposed, but present challenges from the standpoint of uniformity, reliability, and compatibility with large-scale integration.
It is against this background that a need arose to develop the embodiments described herein.